Murder of a Beauty Shop Queen (14 page)

Rhodes pulled up beside the Saturn.

“It's over,” he said.

“You got them?”

“All but one.”

“I saw that one,” Benton said. “He came out the door and ran off down the street. He turned right down there somewhere. I would've followed him, but he was cutting across lawns. I couldn't go after him in my car.”

“You did the right thing by waiting here,” Rhodes said, “like I told you to. Now come on back with me. You have some questions to answer.”

“I have a question for you, too,” Benton said.

“What's that?”

Benton got out of his car. “Let me show you something.”

Rhodes got out of his own car and went to the front of the Saturn where Benton was standing.

“See this dent?” Benton said, putting his hand on the hood. “A piece of that tire hit my car.”

“I see the dent,” Rhodes said. “Was that what you wanted to ask me?”

“No,” Benton said. “I wanted to know if the county would pay to have it fixed.”

Rhodes laughed. “Call your insurance company,” he said.

Chapter 13

Rhodes and Benton drove back to where Pearson was waiting. The ambulance had arrived, and Pearson was talking to the EMTs. Rhodes went over and asked if Pearson had read the prisoners their rights.

“I did, but they claimed they didn't understand. So I flipped the card over and read them in Spanish. They didn't say so, but I don't think they had a very high opinion of my accent.”

“It's the thought that counts,” Rhodes said.

The man with the broken nose was in the ambulance, which was about ready to leave. Rhodes told the driver to wait while he asked the man a few questions.

He stepped into the ambulance where the man lay on a gurney. He didn't look happy to see Rhodes again. A med tech stood beside him. He moved aside to make room for Rhodes.

“Sorry about your nose,” Rhodes said to the man on the gurney. “No hard feelings.”

“No hablo inglés.”

“I was afraid you'd say that. I'm not sure I believe it, though.”

The man gave him a blank stare.

Rhodes knew the tech, Mac Simpson, and whispered, “To hell with him. Nobody will ever miss him, and we can't afford to put him up in the jail. You can give him the poison at the hospital. We'll pick up the body in the morning.”

Mac grinned. “You want me to use the horse needle?”

“Sure. He's going to die anyway.”

“You can't do that!” the man on the gurney said.

Rhodes turned to him. “I thought you didn't speak English.”

“I speak it a little.”

“Maybe we won't have to kill you, then. What did you say your name is?”

“I didn't say, but it's Guillermo. William. William Castillo.”

“So, William. You have any identification?”

“No, I do not.”

“No driver's license?”

“No. No license.”

“Green card?”

Guillermo looked away. “No.”

“All right, then. The county will pay to have you checked over and get your nose fixed. I'll have my deputy go along with you to be sure everything's done right and that you get safely to the jail when it's over.”

Guillermo didn't thank him, but Rhodes was sure he was grateful. At least he wasn't going to be poisoned.

“Take good care of him,” Rhodes told Mac and stepped down from the ambulance.

Pearson and Benton were looking at the dent in the hood of Benton's Saturn. Rhodes walked over to them.

“Duke, you follow the ambulance and bring Guillermo and his friend to the jail when they've fixed him up.”

“Sure thing,” Pearson said.

Pearson went to his car, and Rhodes said to Benton, “Now, then. Why don't you tell me all about how you foiled the battery theft and got into hot pursuit.”

“Can't we go somewhere more comfortable?”

Rhodes had to admit that it was a little hot and humid. “We can go to the jail, in case I have to book you.”

“I didn't do anything wrong.”

“We'll see about that,” Rhodes said, “but first let's do a little repair work.”

“Repair work?”

“I need to fix that place where the metal's pulled away. I wouldn't want anybody else to get in there tonight.”

“What about on the other side, where I was? That man got out some way or another.”

“It's out of sight of the street,” Rhodes said. “We won't worry about it.”

“You're the sheriff.”

“Right,” Rhodes said, “and don't you forget it.”

“As if I could,” Benton said.

*   *   *

When Rhodes and Benton arrived at the jail after Rhodes had nailed down the metal on the warehouse wall, Pearson had already booked the prisoners and was getting them settled in.

“That didn't take long,” Rhodes said.

“Broken nose,” Hack said. “No big deal. The one without a broken nose says his name's Jorge Moreno. Jorge didn't have any more identification than Guillermo.”

“Not that we expected it,” Rhodes said.

Lawton came in from the cellblock with an expectant look on his face. Rhodes had a feeling he was about to get tag-teamed with something or other.

“I need to question this fella here,” Rhodes said, hoping to avoid the situation. “Seepy Benton. You know him.”

“Sure do,” Hack said. “How you doin', Dr. Benton?”

“Never better,” Benton said. “How about you?”

“Fine as frog hair,” Hack said. “You go ahead and answer the sheriff's questions. I guess he don't need to hear about the things that're goin' on in the county. He's got better things to do.”

Rhodes sighed, sat at his desk, and gestured for Benton to take the chair nearby. Rhodes swiveled his chair so that he faced Hack.

“What important things?” he asked.

“Don't let me interrupt you,” Hack said. “You got questions to ask. Go on and ask 'em.”

“I'll ask them, but you tell me your news first.”

“You sure you want to hear it?” Lawton asked. “Maybe you're too busy right now.”

“I want to hear it,” Rhodes said. He didn't look at Benton, who was grinning, Rhodes was sure.

“Well, then,” Lawton said. “What happened was—”

“I'll tell him,” Hack said. “I'm the one took the call.”

Pearson had come in from the cellblock just behind Lawton. He stood by the door to listen. Like Benton, he was grinning.

“It was a lady in distress,” Lawton said.

Hack turned and glared at him. Lawton glared back. After a couple of seconds, Hack turned back to Rhodes.

“See,” he said, “this woman called and said she had a flat tire.”

The flat tire reminded Rhodes of the pickup at the reclamation center. He hadn't told Hack about that, so he held up a hand. Hack waited.

“Call the wrecker,” Rhodes said, “and have him bring in a pickup from the reclamation center. He can put it in the impound lot.”

“Want me to do it now or after you hear what happened?”

“You can do it later, but don't let it go till morning. Those folks at the center might strip it for parts. Duke, you check it out and see if there are any batteries in it.”

Pearson nodded, and Hack said, “I'll call soon's we're done here. Now where was I?”

“You mean you forgot?” Lawton asked.

There was another short glaring contest. Rhodes was never sure who won them.

“Lady in distress,” Rhodes said.

“Oh, yeah,” Hack said. “She called up and said she had a flat tire.”

“You said that already,” Lawton said, but this time Hack ignored him.

“She said she needed us to come out and change the tire for her,” Hack said.

“Not
us,
” Lawton said. “She wanted the sheriff or somebody like that.”

“He knows she didn't mean
us,
” Hack said. “Who's tellin' this story?”

“You are,” Lawton said, looking as innocent as he could.

“You bet I am. Anyhow, she said she wanted
the law
to come change the tire for her because she didn't have the money to pay anybody and she couldn't do it herself.”

“Too bad we were busy chasing battery thieves,” Rhodes said.

“Yeah, that's what I thought, but I was a little suspicious of her, anyway, 'cause I kept hearin' somebody talkin' to her.”

“It was a man,” Lawton said, and Hack whirled around.

Lawton held up both hands, palms out. “That's all I have to say. I'll keep quiet.”

“You better,” Hack said and picked up his story again. “It was a man talkin' to her, tellin' her what to say. I asked her why she didn't just let him change the tire, and she said she didn't know who I was talkin' about. Like she thought I couldn't hear him.”

“Alcohol was involved,” Lawton said. Before Hack could round on him, he added, “I'm bein' quiet now. Nothin' more to say.”

Hack sulked for a second or two, then said, “I could tell the woman'd been drinkin' from the way she slurred her words. She finally said that the man she was with was too drunk to change the tire. I asked her what they were doing out on the highway in the first place, and she said they weren't out on the highway. They were at his place, and they wanted to
get
out on the highway 'cause they'd run out of booze at home. They couldn't go, though, 'cause of the flat tire.”

“So in this case a flat tire was a good thing,” Rhodes said.

“Sure was,” Hack said. “I told her they'd better stay put and that we'd send somebody over in the mornin' to change that tire for her.”

“She won't remember that, though,” Lawton said, “not drunk as she was.”

“Which is just as well,” Rhodes said, “unless one of you two was planning to go change it for her.”

“Not in my job description,” Hack said.

“Mine, either,” Lawton said.

“Or mine,” Pearson said. “And speaking of that, I'd better get back on patrol so the citizens of our good county can continue their peaceful rest.”

He headed for the door, and Rhodes said to Hack, “Did you get that woman's address when she called?”

“Sure did.”

“Hold up, Duke. You better drive by and check to be sure the car's still in the driveway. We don't want that pair driving around in their condition.”

Pearson got the address from Hack and left. Now Rhodes was finally ready to question Benton.

“If we don't get this done,” he said, “I'll never get any rest tonight.”

“I could use some, too,” Benton said.

“Then tell me how you happened to be chasing some alleged battery thieves.”

“Well, it was like this,” Benton said, and then he started to talk.

Before he was finished, Rhodes said, “Okay, let me be sure I have this straight. You just happened to stay at the college late tonight because you had papers to grade, right?”

“That's right,” Benton said. “Lots of grading, and some reports to write, all that kind of thing. Being a math teacher's not all fun and games, you know. We can't just sit around and differentiate using the product rule all day, as much as we'd like to.”

“Right,” Rhodes said. “So you stayed late, and you just happened to have parked your car in one of the darkest spots on the lot.”

“It wasn't dark when I parked,” Benton said. “It was broad daylight.”

“Don't start with me,” Rhodes said. “Hack and Lawton have about finished me off.”

Benton smiled and looked around. Hack was bent over his computer keyboard, and Lawton had disappeared back into the cellblock.

“Go on with your story,” Rhodes said.

“All right. I just happened to park where I did. I had no idea I'd be staying late or that I might be parked where the car would attract thieves if they happened to come by.”

“Sure, and you just happened to come outside and see those men trying to take the battery out of your car, too, I guess.”

“How else could it have happened?”

“You could have been watching from somewhere, hoping to catch somebody doing that or maybe breaking into a nearby car.”

Benton looked shocked. “Do you really think I'd do something like that?”

“Yes,” Rhodes said.

“That really hurts,” Benton said.

“I'll bet it does. Tell me the rest.”

“As you know,” Benton said, “I'm a graduate of the Citizens' Sheriff's Academy.”

“I know,” Rhodes said. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

“It was a great idea. When are we going to have some refresher classes?”

“I'll think about it,” Rhodes said. “Get on with it.”

“You're sure impatient,” Benton said.

Rhodes thought about what Nora Fischer had said. “So I've been told. Let's get on with it.”

“It's just like I said. I saw two men trying to open the car hood. I yelled at them.”

“‘Stop where you are,'” Rhodes said.

“That's right. They didn't stop. They ran to that old pickup and jumped in. The pickup took off, and I got in my car and went after them. That's it.”

“All right, I'll go along with you. Do you know if they'd taken any batteries before they went after yours?”

“If they did, I didn't see them.”

Rhodes thought it over. He didn't believe Benton hadn't been watching and waiting in hopes of something pretty much like what had happened, but there was no law against it, and Benton would never admit it.

“That's all I need,” he said. “We can go home and get some sleep now.”

“You're sure you don't need me to help investigate?” Benton said.

“I'm sure.”

Benton left, and Rhodes was about to follow him when Hack got a call on the radio from Duke Pearson. Rhodes knew it must be important, and Hack didn't even try to drag out the message. Pearson had found a purse in the pickup.